I watched the video of the police shooting of Ma’Khia Bryant. I didn’t really mean to, I’m not saying you should, it just came across my news feed and I pressed “play.” And now I feel like I have to talk about it briefly, because so many people say this officer was justified because Ma’Khia was fighting with a knife. The video footage began about ten seconds before the shooting. You can see that the officer already has his... Read more
I heard the verdict on the radio this afternoon. Derek Chauvin, the police officer who crushed the life out of George Floyd in nine and a half agonizing minutes, has been found guilty of murder. The country is erupting in celebration, which is a grim thing. We are so used to miscarriage of justice that we applaud when one white supremacist is served a ration of justice. We are so used to this being done with impunity that we worried... Read more
There’s been so much horror going on in my hometown lately that I haven’t had time to comment on horror going on elsewhere. Among other things, there’s the trial of Derek Chauvin, who squeezed the life out of George Floyd while the whole country watched last summer. We’re all waiting for the verdict to come back right now. And I have so many things different things about that that I want to say, but hardly know how to phrase them. I... Read more
Hello everybody, I have gotten a new influx of followers on social media in the last week or two, and I’ve also got a new post at The Catholic Herald which you might not have seen if you just follow the blog and don’t follow me on social media. So I’m writing a brief post where everyone will see it. At the Catholic Herald I am honored to share a brief memoir about my experience of Franciscan University... Read more
I dreamed that God was being kept prisoner in the basement. I don’t think that this was some kind of mystical vision, for the record; I think that it was just my brain making plain to me something that ought to have been obvious in my surroundings. And because I’ve been steeped in Roman Catholic imagery from birth, the way my brain made it look was something out of Roman Catholic tradition. I woke up and I understood something... Read more
I had never been in court before, not for a proceeding like this. I went to the courthouse once to get a notarized copy of my marriage certificate, but I didn’t have to go to a courtroom for that. That was more than ten years ago. We were married down at Saint Pete’s. Monsignor married us, but two Franciscan priests concelebrated the Mass. One of them was the man I was going to the courthouse to see. Father David... Read more
This morning the Steubenville Herald-Star published an article quoting a statement on Father David Morrier from Franciscan University of Steubenville. The article does not link to the statement by Franciscan. The statement was not published on Franciscan’s social media, it doesn’t show up in a google search, and a search of FUS’s website shows absolutely no hits for the name “Morrier,” so I assume this statement was released directly to journalists who asked for comment and not to the... Read more
I am not strictly surprised, because I knew something like this was entirely possible. But I am shocked nonetheless. I’ve learned that another TOR priest associated with Steubenville has been named in a sex scandal. I woke up this morning to find that a reader had messaged me an article from this morning’s Steubenville Herald-Star. So far I have not seen a thing about it on Franciscan University’s website or social media. The relevant portion of the article reads:... Read more
Hi folks! This is not a real post, just my monthly reminder that Steel Magnificat, and my family, run on tips. I’ll be back on with a real post later today. I get a very small paycheck from Patheos for clicks in the United States, zilch for most overseas clicks, I will eventually get a royalty check for my books, and everything else my family lives on is gratuities from satisfied readers. This pays my light bill so I... Read more
I always get tongue-tied when it comes time to talk about the Resurrection. I’m famous, or infamous, for writing about the Passion and Death of Christ. I’m good at commenting on suffering– I’ve seen more of it than I care to. I’ve written some passable things about death. When we come to resurrection, I never know quite what to say. Christ was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died... Read more
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In